Warming Pan

Details

Descriptive Terms

pans (containers)
brass (alloy)
etching (corroding)
punching (surface marking technique)
turning (shaping process)
wood (plant material)
Warmer, Bed

Label

In Cherished Possessions 2003-2005: Warming pans were common household items in the days before weather-tight houses and central heating. This example was the gift of the grateful citizenry of Danvers, Massachusetts, to one of its own, a local tavern owner named Francis Symonds. Engraved on its lid are the words: From the Townspeople / Patriot and Friend of Gen. Washington / Bell Tavern, Danvers, Massachusetts / Francis Symonds Esq. Innkeeper and Poet. Symond's Bell Tavern was a meeting place for Danvers patriots. Sited at a crossroads, the tavern was a place where all levels of the community's hierarchy could meet, argue, and organize.

Inscription

Engraved on the lid and pan; on the pan lid reads: "Patriot and Friend/of/Gen. Washington." On the pan brim: "Bell Tavern Danvers, Mass./ Francis Symonds Esq. Innkeeper and Poet ." On the pan's sides in a bell shape reserve: "I'll toll you /if you have need/and feed you well/and bid you speed ." On the other side: "Francis Symonds/makes and sells/the best of chocholate/also shells."

Associated Building

Original to Cogswell's Grant (Essex, Mass.),

Maker

Unknown

Dimensions

46 (H), 11 1/4 (diameter) (inches)

Credit Line

Gift of Bertram K. and Nina Fletcher Little

Accession Number

1991.1496

Places

Massachusetts (United States)
Probably Boston (Suffolk county, Massachusetts)